


Shadow-Mates

by NeedyUke



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Supernatural Elements, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 17:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeedyUke/pseuds/NeedyUke
Summary: A sweet fluff-ball of how two incomplete men found happiness by giving each other the one thing no one else could...the one thing that would complete them.





	Shadow-Mates

Shadow-Mates

Kage liked to walk in the forest late at night. His troubled heart found peace there beneath the dense canopy of tree leaves. The damp, cool air calmed his turbulent mind, and the darkness hid his secret. He knew he was different from everyone else. He chose to spend his time alone in the dark, rather than to suffer through the ridicule of others.

~

Hikari never felt more alive than he did on bright, sunny days. With a huge, goofy grin plastered on his face, he strolled through the crowded park. He knew he was different from those around him. People stopped and stared at him whenever he walked past. None of this ever bothered Hikari, however. Nothing ever caused him to lose his smile.

~

Kage was restless one evening and decided to go for a walk down by the river bank. He never went out in daylight, but he could not stand another moment alone in his apartment.

Long, inviting shadows stretched out across the landscape as the sun chased the horizon. With a heavy sigh, Kage sat in the warm grass and rested his head on his knees. “Why do I have to be different?” he asked himself for the millionth time.

Kage startled when a handsome man sat next to him in the grass. He was so used to being alone all the time, he didn’t even notice anyone approaching him.

“Why are you crying?” the man asked him with sincere concern on his face.

“Crying?” Kage whispered and touched his face. His fingers came away wet with tears. He had not even realized he was crying. Roughly he scrubbed his face free of tears and cleared his throat. “I was not crying,” he said.

“I am Hikari,” the man said with a brilliant smile while the sun dipped lower in the sky.

“My name is Kage…” his words faltered when he saw it. His eyes grew wide, and fresh tears spilled from them.

“Ahh, you noticed,” Hikari beamed.

Kage could not believe his eyes. Hikari had two shadows. Both stretched out behind him; one to the left, the other to the right.

Kage realized he was staring and pulled his gaze back to Hikari’s face.

“I see that you and I are very similar, yet very different,” Hikari said nodding his head at the empty space behind Kage. “Is this the reason you were crying?”

Kage wiped his tears again and stared at the ground. “I have no shadow. I have never had a shadow. People say I have no soul because I have no shadow. I can’t help how I am. I was born this way,” he whispered.

Hikari reached out his hand and touched his new friend on the shoulder. A spark of electricity bolted through Kage’s body. It was unlike anything he ever felt before. “Kage, I know you don’t know me, but will you agree to meet me back here again tomorrow? Let’s say at 3:00 in the afternoon,” Hikari asked.

“I don’t usually go out during the day.”

“Please? I have something for you.”

~

Kage usually slept all day, but he found himself wide awake at noon. He lay in bed thinking about Hikari. When he returned home the previous night, he really had no intention of meeting this man back at the river bank the next day. But now, he could not get Hikari out of his mind.

He climbed out of his bed, showered, and got dressed. He wanted to see Hikari again.

~

As Hikari left his house and headed back to the river bank to meet Kage, he remembered the stories his grandmother used to tell him as a child. His grandmother was a fantastic story teller, and Hikari always hung on every word. His favorite of her stories was about the Shadow-Mates. Before meeting Kage, however, he never dreamed that this story was based on truth. Now he was anxious to put it to the test.

~

Kage strolled up to the river bank a few minutes past 3 o’clock. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and he tried desperately not to draw attention to himself. He hated to be out in the sunlight. He hated how people stared at him.

He saw Hikari sitting in the grass, two identical shadows stretching out beside his lean body. He glanced down at the ground beside his own body and saw only bright sunlight sparkling off the grass. He didn’t know why he even bothered looking for his shadow. It was never there.

Without a word, Kage sat in the grass next to Hikari. One of Hikari’s shadows fell across his arm. It immediately began to tingle with a peculiar pleasant warmth that coursed up toward his shoulder.

“I am so glad you decided to come, Kage,” Hikari said, smiling brightly.

“Why am I here, Hikari?”

“I have something for you. Will you give me your hand?”

Kage was hesitant. He could not deny that he liked Hikari’s company. Hikari did not seem to care one little bit that he was different. He didn’t care that Kage had no shadow. But a life of solitude wore heavy on him. He had no idea how to interact with people. He had no friends. He had no relatives that cared about him.

In an uncharacteristic moment of need, he found his courage and gave Hikari his hand.

Hikari gently took Kage’s hand in his and smiled. He closed his eyes and caressed Kage’s hand with soft fingertips.

Then it happened. That same peculiar warmth returned to Kage, but a hundred times stronger. It started in the hand Hikari was holding and surged up his arm and into his chest. Kage gasped for breath as this warmth accumulated in his chest and then rushed into every cell in his body.

In reflex, Kage pulled back his hand, and the warmth immediately vanished. He gasped, “Wh…what was that? What did you do to me?”

Hikari only looked at him and took his hand once again. Smiling broadly, he nodded his head at the ground beside Kage and said, “Look.”

Kage was afraid to look. He was ashamed of the fact he had no shadow. Stealing all his courage, he looked down. His eyes grew wide as fat tears rolled down his cheeks and fell from his chin. For the first time in his life, he had a shadow. It stretched out gracefully beside him in stark contrast with the bright sunlight.

Kage could not find words. He closed his eyes tightly and re-opened them only to see a shadow, _his shadow_ , still there on the ground, clinging to his body. “How…” was all he could manage.

Hikari glanced at the patch of grass next to his body and then back at his friend. Kage followed his gaze and gasped again when he saw Hikari now only had one shadow.

Hikari squeezed Kage’s hand and pulled it to his chest. “I never thought the tales were true. I never thought I would be lucky enough to find someone like you,” Hikari said, half to himself.

“What is this? How did you…” Kage stammered. His mind and heart were a torrent whirlpool of mixed emotions.

“We are Shadow-Mates. It has long been rumored that there is a perfect mate for each of us somewhere in the world. Soul-Mates. But, there are those who are different. People like you and me. We are rare. We are unique. We are special. When Shadow-Mates find each other, they complete each other like the pieces of a puzzle, giving the other what they are lacking. Shadow-Mates are destined to be together.”

Tears still falling from his eyes, Kage could only stare, looking at Hikari, then to his shadow, then back to Hikari.

“I cannot give you my shadow.” Kage’s heart sank with these words. “But, whenever we are together, you will have my shadow. Kage, you are no longer alone,” Hikari said, knowing that this all must be overwhelming to Kage.

~

Hikari and Kage walked by the river bank late one afternoon many months later. The emptiness in Kage’s heart had long since been replaced by Hikari’s shadow...and his love. As the two men walked hand in hand, Hikari’s head resting against Kage’s shoulder, their shadows stretched out from their feet across the grass. Their shadows did more than walk together. They danced and played together as their owners walked in peaceful contentment.

The Shadow-Mates walked across the bridge that spanned the river and stopped in the middle. Kage took Hikari’s face in his hands and kissed him gently in the fading sunlight. Their shadows stopped dancing and playing, then merged into one.

~End


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